Imagine Musial's reaction watching Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig hit a ball to right field, throw his arms into the air, admiring what he believed was a homer, only to run the bases for a triple, and celebrate again?

Or first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hitting the first of his two home runs Wednesday, flipping his bat, returning to the dugout, and wiggling his fingers by his ears, impersonating Mickey Mouse?

Or Puig, who has been in the major leagues for all four months, putting his hands on his hips, and standing toe to toe with home-plate umpire Ted Barrett over a called third strike, refusing to leave the batter's box?

"My grandfather wasn't controversial, but what if Bob Gibson was on the mound,'' Schwarze said. "(Puig) never would have made third base, because Gibson would have run around the bases and tackled him.

"That stuff takes away from the game. That's not baseball.''

Certainly, it's not Cardinals' baseball.

They'd like to know if everything, even the crowd noise, have to be fake in Southern California. Do fans really have to be instructed when to scream as if they're a game-show audience? Can't anything on the scoreboard be shown besides fans acting crazy, dance contests, and kiss cams?

Is it necessary to have movie star Will Ferrell grab the microphone for the pre-game introductions to pump up the crowd? Do we have to see actor Ken Jeong of the Hangover franchise screaming atop the Dodgers dugout, imploring their fans to, yes, "MAKE SOME NOISE!"

Schwarze, who went to Los Angeles with three of his buddies to watch Games 3 and 4, couldn't even enjoy being a regular fan.

Schwarze wore his jersey with Musial stitched across the back, at Dodger Stadium. He wouldn't have minded good-natured ribbing from Dodgers fans, but the reaction he received, he said, bordered on horrific.

"I walked through the parking lot, and people were yelling at me,'' Schwarze said, "saying they were going to kill me.

"People kept telling me, 'You better take that (expletive) thing off.' People were throwing popcorn, and one guy even tried to trip my buddy as he walked up the aisle.

"Can you imagine that happening in St. Louis? There were even two police officers on horses in the parking lot looking for trouble. One of the officers said, 'You OK? I said, "Yeah, except for everyone hassling me.

"And they just laughed.''

Just like everyone laughed at the Dodgers' antics, believing it's now cool to flip your bat and showboat around the bases.

"Nobody would laugh in St. Louis if someone acted like that," insists Schwarze.

Times are changing. Fans want to be entertained - or at least teams perceive as much. Ballparks have become entertainment venues on grass.

Yet here, where Clydesdales still trot the field, the Cardinals are trying to preserve tradition.

The Dodgers are a personal affront to the Cardinals' value system, and they're going to do everything in their power to assure that style isn't celebrated in the World Series.

"We've been very consistent with how we think about this,'' Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said, "and we understand it's our responsibility to take care of ourselves.

"It's our job to evaluate ourselves on a daily basis to make sure we're going about it the way we want to go about it. It's not our right and responsibility to dictate how other teams go about theirs.''

The Cardinals' mission is clear:

Beat the Dodgers, and send them back to Disneyland, where their escapades can be appreciated.

The Cardinals will take the stage at the World Series, representing the National League, and reminding the baseball world that old-school tradition remains alive and well.

"This is a big responsibility,'' Matheny says, "we've got a lot to take care of.''